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The Medieval Community of Death

What role does the art and literature of death and dying play in mediating our understanding of this signal event in human life? How do we balance our recognition of our inevitable demise with our desire for a death experience that realizes our individuality fully? This lecture and discussion will explore these questions through images from late medieval art that compellingly draw our attention to the necessity of taking full responsibility for our own deaths in a culture that does not widely engage in this important meditation. Lecturer: Ashby Kinch.

Will you be responsible for writing an obituary for a family member? Do you want to have the last word? Receive tips and advice on how to write a thoughtful sendoff for yourself or someone else. Registration limited.

The ability to locate, evaluate and use information effectively and ethically is essential. In this course students will develop lifelong information seeking skills and an understanding of critical literacies. This course builds on the general information literacy skills that students acquired in WRIT 101. Students will explore visual literacy, media literacy, news literacy, and scholarly communication literacy and hone their abilities in critical thinking, resource analysis, and the ethical and appropriate use of information.

The ability to locate, evaluate and use information effectively and ethically is essential. In this course students will develop an advanced understanding of critical literacies and lifelong information seeking skills. Students are encouraged to take this course as a complement to “W” designated courses in their major. Students will complete an in-depth literature review relevant to their major that includes all aspects of information literacy, including visual literacy, media literacy, news literacy, and scholarly communication literacy. Students will hone their abilities in critical thinking, resource analysis, and the ethical and appropriate use of information through an analysis of publication practices.

Offered every term. Introduces on-campus and distant students to academic library research methods and resources with a focus on remote access and services for distant students. Explores all steps of academic research including how to find information and use critical thinking to evaluate sources.

A Family Undertaking explores the growing home funeral movement by following several families in their most intimate moments as they reclaim the end of life, forgoing a typical mortuary funeral to care for their loved ones at home. Far from being a radical innovation, keeping funeral rites in the family or among friends is exactly how death was handled for most of pre-20th century America.

Think it can’t happen here? Even in Montana, books are routinely challenged. The Montana Library Association has put together a list of book challenges in the state. As recently as 2012, Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian was challenged in a Montana school district.

Professor Samantha Hines talks in today’s Banned Books Week Video about her favorite banned book, Where the Sidewalk Ends. Did you know that this is just one of a host of beloved children’s books banned across the United States? Check out this link to see what other classics have made the list. Is your favorite on there?

Professor Annie Belcourt talks about John Green’s Book “Looking for Alaska” in today’s Banned Book Week Video. Did you know that in 2009 Green took to his webpage to defend the same book against charges that it was ‘pornographic’? Check out his own defense of the book!

Ever wonder why books are banned or challenged? The American Library Association compiles data on censorship attempts and lists the following as main reasons for book challenges between 2000-2009:

1,577 challenges due to “sexually explicit” material;

1,291 challenges due to “offensive language”;

989 challenges due to materials deemed “unsuited to age group”;

619 challenged due to “violence”‘ and

361 challenges due to “homosexuality.”

The majority of challenges happen in school libraries, but between 2000-2009 there were 114 challenges to materials used in college classes and 30 to academic libraries. For more information on book challenges, visit the ALA’s webpage on Frequently Challenged Books.